Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for providing a warning indication that a vehicle is decelerating. More specifically, the invention relates to a system for providing an indication to following vehicles of the rate of deceleration of a vehicle.
Description of the Related Art
When a driver applies his brakes, other drivers have no way of knowing how forcefully that person is braking. Under the best conditions, it requires excellent depth perception to determine how quickly a car is decelerating. Many rear-end collisions could be prevented with a visual warning system that would allow a driver to accurately determine how fast the vehicle in front of him is braking.
Several systems in the prior art have attempted to address this problem. However, none have provided an effective solution. For example, Zimmerman (U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,177) provides a system that causes the brake lights to flash when the anti-lock braking system (ABS) engages. It is likely that the driver is attempting a rapid stop when the ABS engages, but there is no direct correlation. ABS engages when the ABS sensors detect that a wheel of the vehicle is not spinning. The vehicle may be attempting to stop on a slick surface. Thus, the vehicle may be decelerating at a normal pace.
Lurie et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,243) shows a system with an optical rotation sensor to determine deceleration. This provides a more accurate sensing of deceleration that the ABS system, but it assumes the rotation of the wheels is translated into stopping force. This may or may not be true. Thus the system of Lurie et al. may provide a false indication of the stopping force being applied. In addition, the system of Lurie et al. includes a provision for a special indicator for quick stops, but only provides a threshold indication of when a stop is xe2x80x9cquick.xe2x80x9d Thus, the driver behind a vehicle with the system of Lurie et al. does not have an accurate indication of the force of braking being applied. In addition, the signaling system of Lurie et al. uses a red/yellow/green target shaped signal to indicate stopping quickness. However, this signal is easy to overlook and useless to colorblind drivers.
There is a need for a system that provides an accurate indication of the braking force being applied to indicate the urgency of the braking. In addition, there is a need for a system that provides a warning to a trailing driver that the preceding vehicle is braking urgently.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a braking warning system that gives an accurate indication to succeeding vehicles how urgently the preceding car is braking.
It is an additional object to provide a highly visible warning to succeeding cars of braking by preceding vehicles.
It is an additional object to provide a warning signal that provides a clear indication of the deceleration of the vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a warning signal within a succeeding vehicle that a preceding vehicle is urgently braking.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a system indicating the location of a plurality of urgently braking vehicles and providing a warning to vehicles on the same road that a traffic obstruction is impending.
These and other objects of the present invention are provided by the described embodiments of the present invention. One embodiment of the invention is a brake strobe system (BSS) providing a state of the art visual warning system designed to prevent accidents and multi-car pileups. When a driver quickly and forcefully applies his brakes, a strobe light (which is built into the third brake light or all brake lights) is activated. The harder a driver brakes, the faster and brighter the strobe blinks, thereby warning other drivers of potential hazards and the deceleration of the vehicle. When the vehicle is stopped, the BSS will continue to blink until the driver lifts his/her foot from the brake or another vehicle pulls in behind the BSS equipped vehicle. The BSS has the ability to brighten or dim the strobe to compensate for weather conditions and day or night driving conditions. It also has the ability to change modes or presets according to the speed of the vehicle.
The brake strobe system includes at least a light bulb and a processor. The light bulbs used in the BSS are usually Xenon or LEDs. These types of bulbs are bright, reliable, have quick response times and good focusing characteristics. The processor serves three purposes: on-off switch, speed control and intensity control. The processor has the ability to receive information from multiple sensors. The most common types of sensors include: brake line pressure, deceleration, proximity, a global positioning device, temperature and light (i.e. a photo sensor). The processor then processes this information and determines how quickly and intensely the light bulb should blink. Because the preferred types of light bulbs have good focusing characteristics, drivers who are not directly behind the vehicle are not distracted. Focusing the light bulb also proves useful for triggering optional alerts on the following car. The audible alert has the ability to monitor the braking rate of the vehicle in front via its strobe signal, or by monitoring infrared or radio frequency signals, if such signals are provided from the leading vehicle. If the driver does not apply his brakes within a certain amount of time, a warning alarm will start to beep at, for example, the rate of the received strobe signal until the brakes are applied.
In the event that a car""s airbag deploys, the brake strobe system will automatically activate and provide a flashing signal to warn other drivers and alert emergency response personnel. Also included is a manual on/off feature to augment the car""s hazard lights (which vary in speed and intensity according to the vehicle""s speed) and provide better visibility and safety for roadside stops or when the vehicle is traveling under emergency circumstances. Since the strobe is activated when the airbag is deployed, it will also trigger the optional audible alert system.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes a braking force sensor for sensing braking force of the first vehicle, the braking force sensor and other sensors provide a deceleration force signal indicating the rate of braking force of the vehicle. A strobe circuit is connected to receive the deceleration force signal and the strobe circuit provides a digital signal having a flashing frequency that varies in response to the braking force signal. An illumination device is connected to receive the digital signal and provides a visual indication of the rate of braking force of the motor vehicle. The illumination device provides an illumination signal at the frequency of the digital signal. A photo sensor positioned on the succeeding vehicle receives the illumination signal and converts it into a warning signal. A detector is connected to receive the warning signal and determines when the first vehicle is decelerating. A warning is provided when the detector determines that the deceleration force being applied by the preceding vehicle is above a certain threshold and is proximate to the following vehicle.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.